#RileyNem CashmieraThoughts BGWB ShortStory

[cashmierathoughts]

Riley ‘Nem pt. 2

Riley got to work at 8:37 AM that morning; that's forty-two minutes later than when she typically arrives. All she could think of was her board meeting in front of the execs today. But it wasn't the board members in particular that had her shook, it was the fact that Jake was taking the lead on one of her accounts and she wanted nothing more but to impress him. Well, to be honest, she wanted nothing more than to throw everything off the table and mount Jake like the fine specimen that he was. Instead, she walked on what felt like a hardwood floor made of eggshells to her post at the front of boardroom and took her place as first presenter. Riley stared nervously around the room and counted the number of white people, it was her instinct to do so. She always counted the number of non-blacks in most situations but particularly in professional environments. It was her way of tracking how many possible like-minded individuals she’d be surrounded by; how many people were in her presence that also had to play a role, talk a little preppier, or smile a little bigger. It was also a way for her to gauge how far blacks and other non-whites had come in Corporate America. 

Jake entered the room and took his seat at the head of the table.. oh how she wanted to take a seat on his firm--. But before she could conclude her thought, a shrubby man entered the room with a stack of papers almost blinding his sight and addressed the room.

“Thank you for joining us today”, said a frumpy man in a pin striped button down, partnered with high water slacks that appeared to be apart of his wardrobe since the 80′s. It was Dougleman. He was CFO of the company and a good family friend of Riley’s parents. To be frank, he was probably the only reason that Riley was considered for her role with the company in the first place. Blanc & White Co. was not exactly known for its diversity when she first started seven years ago. Riley is the youngest and the blackest junior partner at the firm to date. Dougleman finished his welcoming speech and proceeded to pass out the guides that mapped out the presentation to each board member. When Dougleman slumped his way to the head of the conference table to give Jake a guide, Jake declined and politely informed Dougleman that he’d already had his secretary print him a copy two days prior so that he could give it the “once over”. 

I didn't know if this was best practice or just Jake’s personal preference, but whenever he took the lead on one of my accounts, he’d have his secretary contact mine so that he would have access to a copy of the guide days before. This meant that I didn't have any time to procrastinate. I had to have my shit together if I wanted to impress him. 

“Good morning staff. As you all know, Blanc & White has been trailblazers in the marketing industry as far as appealing to both the minority and majority crowd for the last two decades...”, I started. 

When I was finished with the presentation, Dougleman and the rest of the big wigs applauded both myself and the team. And as we were dismissing back to our seats, an extended black finger was raised in the air; it was accompanied by Jake’s strong, masculine black hand. 

“Could you go over those numbers from last quarter again, please.”, he said in a requesting yet commanding tone. 

As Tom, my co-worker and partner on the quarterly projections, went to stand up and go over the slides, Jake interrupted him and said,

“Thank you, Tom, but I was hoping Riley would brief us on this one”. 

My heart instantly dropped into my panties. I mustered up enough vocal power to respond, “Of course I can.” 

As I meandered to the podium, I could feel the heat from his eyes burning through my backside. I obediently did what was asked of me and quickly went through last quarter’s figures once more. Jake was scribbling madly on his pad as I was presenting. This made me both agitated and curiously nervous. I could not help but to wonder what he was writing. Was he even writing or was he pretending to take notes but was really drawing provocative doodles of me? Nah.. nine times of out ten he was probably really taking notes. Which left that 10% chance that he was doing something else.. While I was wonderstruck on the possibilities of Jake’s notations, I must have slipped into another one of my day dreams because when I came to, my gaze was met by twelve pairs of questioning eyes staring right back up at me. Tom gave me a puzzling and mocking look as if to say, “Nigga, what you on?” I quickly finished and scurried back to my seat. I was so embarrassed. 

The meeting was adjourned and I gathered my things and headed back to my office. I closed the door to my 12x10 haven and kicked off my heels and caressed my feet into the canary shag carpet under my desk and plopped down in my chair. I checked my phone to see how many, if any, messages, DMs,or pokes that I'd gotten while in my meeting. Surprisingly, I had a DM on Twitter. Whomp, whomp. It was from my cousin Keesha; an invite to a pajama party this Saturday. I’ll pass! 

As I was closing out my browser, I got a ping on my desktop. It was from Jake! It read, “Good job today during the presentation. If you would like any assistance on the next one, let me know and we can get together.” I shrilled with joy! My assistant rushed in to see what was going on and I hastily sent her away and proceeded to gush over the simple, yet telling instant message. I read it aloud to myself, 

“Good job today during the presentation. If you would like any assistance on the next one, let me know and we can get together...we can get together..”, I softly repeated to myself. 

“BIIITTCCHHH! WE CAN GET TOGETHER!”, I screeched and dry humped the air to each syllable,”we can get to-geth-er”. In the midst of my final thrust, Amy poked her head in to see what was wrong, and for the second and final time, I politely asked her to find something to do. Great, now she knows I'm crazy. But I was feeling too good about myself to worry about what she thought. Without thinking, I hopped on Twitter to DM my cousin Keesha back and let her know that I was in that thang with her this weekend. Despite my hysteria, the message read, “Yes, Keesha, I would love to attend the PJ Soiree with you this weekend..”.

Riley ‘Nem pt 2.5 “Saturday Night” Coming Soon.

[cashmierathoughts]

Riley ‘Nem Saturday Night Part3

I woke up Saturday morning with one thing on my mind.. I did NOT want to go to this pajama party. But I’d already told Keesha that I would go. Plus, I always reneged so I figured I might as well keep my word. Before I could finish my thoughts on the matter, my phone rang; it was Keesha facetiming me. I reluctantly answered. 

Keesh: “Rise and shiiinnnne”, sang an annoying and off-key voice. 

“Now what I tell you about unscheduled facetimes? You lucky I answered, wassup?”. 

Keesh: “Yo grumpy ass. Sounds like somebody didn’t get no dick last niiighht.. haa!”. 

(I rolled my eyes, irritated because she was right but I laughed it off.) 

Keesh: “..I was calling ‘cause I need you to run to the mall with me real quick so I can find us something to wear to this pawrty [party] tonight!”, she continued. 

“..and what makes you think I don’t already have something to wear?”. 

Keesh: “Girl, whatever you do have, I’m sure it’s whack, so you might as well bring dat ass.” 

“You’re right”, I snickered. “Okay, we can go to the mall, but I was actually gonna get a workout in before. You wanna meet me at the gym and we can go after?”. I already knew what Keesh would say, but I liked to guilt trip her anyway. You see, Keesh had BAWDY [body], always had, since we were in Jr. High. Anything she ate went to all the right places and it was that very reason alone that she did not work out. In her mind, she didn’t have to. I partially agreed. 

Keesh: “Soooo.. what you saying is for me to meet you at your house when you’re done working out? Bet.”

“Shaking my head.. alright man, bye.” 

I headed over to NappyHeads Gym to get a few circuits in. Once I was done, I went home with hopes of running a hot shower but not to my surprise, there was no hot water. Wet footprints mapped the hallway and led a trail to Jordyn’s bedroom. She was always using up the last of everything: the last egg, the last bit of detergent, the last roll of toilet paper, everything! 

While I waited, I plugged my phone up to the aux and put my music on shuffle as I prepared to clean up. There was nothing like cleaning up to your very own soundtrack. To be honest, I would find any reason to listen to music. My love for music was unparalleled to any other emotion I’d ever felt, even that of being in love. Love lets you down. Music picked me up. It was the best high I’d ever felt, outside of actually being high and listening to ‘Footsteps in the Dark’ live. So I did the dishes, wiped down the counters, and swept the kitchen floor. When I was finished, I went to check the shower water to see if it was warm enough to bathe in. Fail. It was still cold. I was annoyed, yet content because as I was wiping down the counters and the appliances, I came across one of my emergency joints stashed away in a tin-tea can labeled “Natural Greenery”. 

I usually didn’t indulge, but my baby brother sold weed and would always leave me these “stress relievers” hidden around the house. It just so happens that I came across this one today. I wasn’t necessarily stressed, but it had been a minute since I got stoned, so I lit the tail of the joint and watched the orangish embers flicker as the length of the spliff diminished. I could feel the wrinkles in my forehead vanish with each inhale. Not much longer after, I was high. 

I stretched out upside down on the couch and let my head hang floppily inches away from the ground as my ponytail lightly swept the faux cherrywood floor boards. I let out a deep sigh and just as I was slipping into total relaxation, I heard a knock at the front door. I pretended to ignore it, hoping Jordyn would get it, but when she didn’t, I slowly rolled onto the floor, picked myself up off the ground and sluggishly made my way to the door. 

“Who is it..?”, I asked. The peephole was covered up so I couldn’t tell who it was. I was already paranoid and high, so when the respondent’s voice was a few octaves lower than I was anticipating, I was slightly alarmed. 

“Brian”, responded a man’s voice. 

“Who?”, I repeated, because I thought I heard the foreign voice say ‘Brian’, but then again, I wasn’t in my right state of mind so I had to be sure. 

“Brian, girl. Now open up the door.” 

At that moment, I knew exactly who it was, and it wasn’t no damn Brian. It was Keesha. I took off the latch, unbolted the top lock, and opened the door, greeting her with a stale face. 

With a massive grin on face and in a taunting tone, Keesha said, “Tell the truth, you thought I was Brian huh?”. 

Truth is, I did think it was Brian. You see, Brian was my ex and was the sole example and definition of where the term ‘ex’ came from. I had recently EXcommunicated that nigga from my life, EXfoliated his touch from every inch of my body, and EXchanged his drama for EXhalation. To make a long story short, Brian dogged me out; but I should have known better, everybody knows ‘Brian’ is a cheating-ass name anyway. 

“You lucky I opened the door”, I answered, attempting to circumvent the topic. 

“You ready?”, asked Keesh hastily. 

“Yea, let me hop in the shower real quick”, I urged. 

Keesh: “So thassa no..”

As I walked down the hallway, quickly stripping my clothes off layer by layer, I could hear Keesha already rummaging through the refrigerator, bottles clinging and all. I got out the shower and put my clothes on and then we headed for the mall. 

When we arrived, Keesha dragged me to Love Culture. It was like being in a flea market mixed with Fashion Nova, mixed with a level three Rainbow. Basically, it wasn’t my style. I suppose my facial expression gave away my thoughts because as I was thumbing through the garments, Keesha grabbed my arm and said, “C’mon witcho bougie ass”, and lured me out of the store, bag in hand. 

“I am not bougie”, I protested as I tried to hold back from laughing. “You know I’m allergic to polyester”. 

She rolled her eyes and we found ourselves at the threshold of Victoria’s Secret. Now this was more of my speed. Lace teddies, satin robes, silk panties with the matching brassieres, babydolls, sheer French maid units, etc. Yes! I was home. Like most women, I enjoyed dressing up in my lingerie; it’s just that more recently I was finding fewer and fewer reasons to do so. I wasn’t exactly thrilled about buying lingerie for a party, but who was I to go against the dress code?

Keesha asked me what was my price range so that she could “help” me find something to wear and I mistakenly told her that I had an Angel’s Credit Card. I could see the emerald dollar signs illuminate in her eyes as her pupils dilated at the thought of having no spending limit. I knew I had fucked up. Several wardrobe changes later, I’d found my outfit for the evening. Either I actually liked what was selected for me, or I’d just given in and gotten tired of all the different materials and hypo-allergenic panty protectors rubbing my coochie the wrong way. 

I parted ways with Keesh and planned to meet back up with her later on before the party. When I got back home, the house still smelled like the weed I had smoked earlier. I’d completely forgotten that I was high that day; that was one of the many effects that weed had on me. As I reached my room, hoping to duck off for an hour or two, Jordyn caught me in the hallway and started to tell me the story she told me every other week. Her nigga wasn’t acting right, blah, blah, blah.. And that’s not to say I didn’t care, because I did. Jordyn was my girl - we go back to St. Andrews Jr. High; but I had been hearing about this dusty nigga Robert for the past two years and was completely over it at this point. 

Jordyn: “…yea girl so what you think?.. Hellooo? Riley!”, demanded Jordyn. 

Everything she’d said since she got my attention fell on deaf ears. 

“..Huh? Aw yea girl, fuck ‘em”, I managed to utter, pretending that I had been listening. That was a classic response and the closest and most general statement I could think to say, next to “that’s wild”. Everybody knows that when you say “that’s wild”, you’re not listening. 

“Come out tonight with me and Keesh. We going to some pajama party on the north and Keesh knows the promoter so we not paying to get in”, I advertised. 

Jordyn: “… I don’t know. I was probably gone stay in and catch up on my shows”, she reasoned. 

“Really, Jordyn? Catch up on your shows? We can do that on Sunday after church like we always do. Go find something to wear! Victoria’s Secret is having a sale if you don’t have anything!”. 

Jordyn: “Girl, I aint got no Victoria’s Secret money!” 

“You’re right, Love Culture is more your speed”, I teased. We both laughed and she headed out for the mall and I to my room to take a nap. I was so exhausted and slipped into a mild kush coma. 

I woke up, looked around for my phone, saw that it was 8:30pm, and went right back to sleep. I was trying to fight it, but the slumber was so satisfying - I couldn’t help but to submit to it. 

Shortly after, I woke up again. A tickling sensation ventured up the side of my leg, past my knee, reaching my inner thigh, and finally halting at the folds in my skin most closest to my center. I could feel my warm hands getting lost in my creases. I slowly dilated my legs, allowing my hands to rest comfortably between them. I lie there, groping my breasts, pretending that my hands were his. I reached down and slid two fingers between my lips and wildly rotated them until I could feel the sensation of arousal. I slowed down to a carousel speed just as I was about to cum. I wanted to tease myself; at least that’s what I imagined Jake would do. I imagined he would pull my hair, so I grabbed myself by my thick wavy locks and tugged. I instantly got wetter. I inserted my longest digit while my index finger fondled my clit. I could feel myself about to arrive and although there was no one else in the room with me, I softly whispered, “I’m about to cum, I’m about to cum”. It grew to more than a whisper and before I knew it, my legs were cold from the soaked sheets. I rolled over onto my stomach and caught my breath. 

I retrieved my panties from off my bedroom floor and headed for the bathroom to freshen up and get ready for this evenings festivities. No less than three minutes of me being in the bathroom, Jordyn bursts in all giggly and shit. 

Jordyn: “Look what I found!”, she shrilled. It was a rose gold lace teddy with the heels to match. 

“Oh my gosh, that’s bomb! Where’d you find that!?”, I questioned. She knew rose gold was one of my favorite colors, mostly because of how flattering it was on my sienna skin tone. 

Jordyn: “..somewhere that’s more my speed",she sassed. 

I pouted and negotiated a few unworn items in my closet, along with the lingerie that I’d bought earlier that day for her teddy. I was thrilled and actually couldn’t wait to go to the party. We finished getting ready and headed over to my Aunt Bernadine’s house to pick up Keesh. 

Low and behold, once we’d gotten there, Keesha wasn’t ready. I opted to stay in the car and wait because I’ve found that when someone knows you’re outside with the car still running and you’re waiting on them, they tend to move a little faster. If you go in and wait, they think you have the time to spare or to get comfortable; two things that I did not have. Three songs later, my patience was thin and my nerves were few. Jordyn and I decided to go in and put some fire under Keesha’s ass. So much for my theory about waiting in the car. 

Before we walked in, I had to give Jordyn the same rundown that I’d given her and anyone else that was not familiar with Aunt B’s house, before. 

“Look, my Aunt Bernadine is nosey and outspoken and my Uncle Ray likes to act like he’s blind and pinch your ass and act like he was reaching for his cane. You ready? Let’s go.” 

We walked up to the front porch and the boards under our feet creaked so loudly that there was no need to knock. I could hear Aunt B call out from behind the screen door,

“Keesha! Riley nem here. C’mon in y’all!”

As soon as we walked in, she started up. 

Aunt B: “Hey Riley”, she said suspiciously. “How you been girl? Still workin’ for the man? ..puttin’ cigarettes in our black baby’s hands and liquor stores on our corners?”, she asked accusingly. 

“Auntie B, that was ONE campaign, THREE years ago and there weren’t even any black people in the ad.”, I said defensively. 

Aunt B: “Eggs-actly!”, she interrupted before I could even finish my sentence. “No blacks in the ad. As if that’s any better”. 

Keesha appeared at the top of the stairs and yelled for us to come up. It was as if she could sense my agitation with her mother. As we were walking up the stairs, Aunt B yelled after us and said,

“Yo daddy still at home UNEMPLOYED while my sister going to work everyday?!”. It sounded more like a statement than a question. But I answered her anyway. 

“He’s RETIRED Aunt B, not unemployed.” Man I couldn’t stand her hating ass. 

We got to Keesha’s room and surprisingly, she was ready. Apparently, this entire time, she was waiting on the promoter to text her back about putting our names on the list. Personally, I didn’t like the sound of waiting on a promoter to put my name on a list but if I knew anything, I knew that Keesha was plugged, and more importantly; I knew how cheap my cousin was. She was not about to pay to get into a party. 

Keesha opened the bottom drawer to her dresser and pulled out a fifth of 1800 Tequila. I cringed at the sight of it. I can’t remember a time that I’d drunk tequila and actually remembered the night before. It made me emotional and horny and those two things together can be deadly. I proceeded with caution. Two shots in and I decided that I didn’t want to be irresponsible that night and made a conscious decision to NOT get fucked up. Jordyn, being the responsible person that she was, offered to drive my car because she wasn’t drinking for whatever reason.

Keesha got the text confirming our free entry that we had been waiting on and we headed out. By this time, Aunt B and Uncle Ray were already in their room for the night so I didn’t have to worry about hearing any of her sideways remarks on our way out. 

We pulled up to the spot. No, literally, the club was called, “The Spot”, and parked around back. I made sure Jordyn backed in because you never know if you’re going to have to make a quick getaway. ESPECIALLY on the north side!

When I stood up and got out the car, I felt myself get a little lightheaded. I began to add up the number of shots I’d taken that night in my head..two in Keesha’s room.. one on our way to the car.. well one and a half because Jordyn’s baby ass barely touched hers.. and one at the stoplight ‘cause my jam came on. Okay, so carry the one.. that’s about five. I’m good. I knew that it wouldn’t be wise to drink anymore that night so I asked Jordyn to make sure I didn’t get too lit. 

We walked past the line and got right in. I could feel the jealousy radiating off the bystanders as they sized us up along the way. We were led to VIP by Keesha’s connect and to my surprise, the venue was actually decent. It wasn’t hot and muggy, but more importantly, even though everyone was half naked and dancing, it didn’t even smell like ass! I was impressed. 

We sat down in an all white section and bottle service had already been delivered. Keesha poured three shots of VSOP Hennessy, one for each of us. I was reluctant to drink mine. There are two reasons why I was hesitant on taking this shot: 1. It would put me at six shots for the night, even though I didn’t even feel drunk. And 2. I had already been drinking light. 

“Keesh, should we really be drinking dark? I mean, we’ve already been drinking tequila”, I yelled over the music. 

She looked at me dead n the eyes and knocked her shot back. What a savage. 

Keesha: “Thassa myth cuz. Now drink that shit”, she urged. 

I obediently followed suit and drank. Keesh grabbed me by the arm and pulled me out onto the dance floor. I looked back at Jordyn, pleading with my eyes that she would save me; but she failed me and only smiled a devious smile that told me she knew exactly what kind of night we were in for… a “cousin Keesha” type of night. One of her reckless nights that my momma would usually call me gossiping about the next day. 

We maneuvered our way though the crowd, unmarked hands grabbing at our asses and tugging at our silk robes as we slid by, and came to a standstill right in the middle of the party. Great. The middle of the crowd is the worst place to be, in my opinion. The DJ dropped a slow record and I nervously looked around as everyone around me was partnering up and grinding on one another. Including Keesha. She got snatched up quick. I could feel the wolves’ eyes on me as I helplessly looked for a way out. I was definitely feeling all six of those shots by now. Beads of sweat trickled down my back so I loosened my robe and let it drop to my waist, exposing my rose gold lingerie. I could almost immediately feel the difference in the room’s temperature. 

I looked around and caught the gaze of this fine amber skinned man across the room. Unforgetful that I was half naked in a party, I imagined that this is what Diamond felt like that first night she danced at the Player’s Club. 

The stranger made his way across the room, his eyes never breaking our mutual stare. We had an unspoken agreement that when he reached me, I’d give him a dance and possibly a little conversation. But as he got closer, there was something familiar about his strut.. and those broad shoulders. Oh shit! What the hell was he doing here? It was JAKE! 

TBC